Seven

In addition to the Triads, the Enneagram of personality can be divided into another three groups of three based on the work of Karen Horney (1885–1952). Karen Horney was a Neo-Freudian psychoanalyst who is best known for founding feminist psychology, kicking off the self-help movement by empowering the average person to employ self-awareness in their own treatment and for her theories on the relationship between parental indifference and neurosis. She is also responsible for changing the view of neurosis as less of a permanent, pathological state and more of a dysfunctional coping strategy that can be brought back into balance.

The personality types corresponding to Karen Horney’s Aggressive strategy are the Three, Seven and Eight. All three are generally bold and energetic and respond to problems, threats and obstacles by expanding and reinforcing egoic boundaries. In other words, they see

The Center of intelligence associated with the Head is our capacity for awareness, perception and contemplation as well as our source of vision, insight, intuition and inner guidance. The Head Center is also home to our capacity for an intuitive understanding of the workings of the universe. At its best, it is a pure, crystalline field of consciousness in which our perceptions arise and recede without attachment. It is this open awareness that allows us to fully sense the signals coming from both the outer and inner worlds, thus allowing us to make conscious decisions free of distraction and bias. To make space for this, we must be able to quiet our minds so we can be pristinely receptive to the subtlest cues and have the capacity to process our impressions from a point of clarity and objectivity.

The nine personality types on the Enneagram can be divided into three groups of three, each Triad relating to a Center of intelligence. In the Riso-Hudson teaching—as influenced by the work of G. I. Gurdjieff and Oscar Ichazo—the Centers are the Belly, the Heart and the Head. Gurdjieff theorized that man, unless realized, is a “machine” in which these Centers are not functioning properly. Riso and Hudson further theorize that each of the personality types on the Enneagram is a result of a specific state of imbalance in one of the three Centers.

Enthusiasts: Spontaneous, versatile, acquisitive & scattered The busy, productive type. Sevens are extroverted, optimistic, versatile, and spontaneous. Playful, high-spirited, and practical, they can also misapply their many talents, becoming over-extended, scattered, and undisciplined. They constantly seek new and exciting experiences,

One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. —C. G. Jung Take a look at your community of friends. What types do you tend to choose? What types do you tend to